Company aims to build demonstrator before building commercial unit
German company Proxima Fusion has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with utility major RWE, the region of Bavaria, and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) as it delivers a roadmap to build a nuclear fusion plant.
In January, the company laid out plans to build a test reactor called Alpha in Garching, to build a commercial scale fusion reactor plant called Stellaris within 15 years at a nuclear site at Gundremmingen being decommissioned by RWE, and to build a commercial reactor using laser-based technology in southern Bavaria.
Proxima Fusion said in a statement that under the MoU, its partners would work together on site selection, permitting and regulatory processes, project structure and financing.
Proxima Fusion would take the lead on engineering, public procurement processes and construction. RWE would provide its experience in operating power plants and its global industrial network.
The company said the cost of its Alpha demonstration reactor alone was €2bn ($1.7bn), while it did not detail the cost of the two other plants. The company said that it aimed to finance 20% of the total project costs through private investment. A further 20% would potentially come from the state of Bavaria funding, and RWE would also contribute.
Proxima Fusion said that they would also apply for federal funding from Germany.
“This MoU is a milestone that visibly positions the European fusion industry on the global stage. It marks the starting point of an industrial ecosystem that consolidates existing and new know-how in Europe and anchors value creation here,” said Francesco Sciortino, co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion.
The MoU was also welcomed by RWE. “The potential of fusion technology for the energy supply of the future is enormous. Thanks to an excellent research landscape and the start-ups that have emerged from it, such as Proxima Fusion, Germany can take on a key role,” said Markus Krebber, CEO.
The company’s Stellaris reactor will use high-temperature superconducting magnets in a stellarator. A stellarator is a doughnut-shaped ring of precisely positioned magnets that can contain the plasma from which fusion energy is born.
While Germany has closed its nuclear power plants, the government has shown support for fusion research and aims to be the first country to connect a fusion reactor to the grid.
